Vegan for Life (15 page)

W
hen you go meatless and dairy-free, what on earth do you eat? Some of the best food you’ve ever tasted!

It would seem that dropping entire food categories from your menus would leave a diet that feels very restricted. But upon going vegan, many people find that their food horizons actually expand as they explore new menu items like crusty barbecued Indonesian tempeh, sweet almond milk, crispy falafel croquettes, and tangy sesame butter sauce. Dining at a vegan table is anything but dull!

But what if exotic fare isn’t your thing? What if you have neither the patience nor time to follow a recipe? That’s fine. You can build healthful and appealing vegan meals around convenience foods and easily prepared dishes—old standbys that have been a part of your diet all of your life, like spaghetti with marinara sauce.

There are plenty of wonderful cookbooks and recipe websites for vegans, and we’ve listed several in the resource section. But you can be a happy, healthy vegan without ever cracking open a cookbook. After all, it doesn’t take much instruction to bake a potato, flavor beans with onions and salsa, and round out the meal with steamed spinach. Much of the cooking that people do—whether or not they are vegan—is just this type of casual, unstructured preparation.

It’s not hard to create great vegan meals and find substitutes for the foods you’ve always enjoyed. Yes, there is a learning curve as you switch from the diet you’ve always known to one that is based on plant foods. But if you take it one step at a time, going vegan is a fun adventure.

Some people dive into a vegan diet and lifestyle overnight while others need to test the waters and make a gradual transition. The transition can occur in any number of ways, and it’s up to you to decide what feels logical and practical. Don’t assume that you have to go vegetarian—omitting meat while still eating eggs and dairy—as the first step toward veganism. Some people do, and that’s fine, but it’s not the only, or necessarily best, way to begin reducing your intake of animal products.

The tips in this chapter cover a broad range of big and small changes and offer options for different cooking and eating styles. Choose the ones that seem most realistic to begin with and then keep making changes at the pace that feels right for you.

These are the changes that don’t require any real knowledge about cooking or meal planning. They won’t make much difference in your meal preparation, but they will reduce your intake of animal foods immediately. For example, trade in cow’s milk for plant-based milk, and start using vegan salad dressings, sour cream, and mayonnaise. Even if you are still unsure about going vegan, it’s worth reducing animal food intake with these very easy changes.

Condiments are a good way to make simple substitutions that build fast flavor into foods. Some all-American favorites like mustard, relish, and ketchup are already vegan. For those products that typically contain animal ingredients, here are some winning substitutes.

If you are accustomed to using cow’s milk as a beverage, with cereal, or in cooking and baking, look into some of the alternatives. Try milks made from soy, rice, hemp, oats, or almonds on cereal, in baking, to make chocolate pudding, or to wash down a cookie. Look for choices that are fortified with calcium and vitamin D. If you don’t like one, try another. It may take a few attempts, but with the vast array of products, you’ll find something that suits you.

Most cheese alternatives contain small amounts of the milk protein casein, but there are some wonderful, completely vegan choices. The Follow Your Heart Company, a leader in the production of delicious vegan foods, makes Vegan Gourmet cheese in a variety of flavors. We also love Daiya and Teese, which are great to melt over pasta or on a pizza. For a vegan wine and cheese party, try Sheese, which is made in Scotland and crafted in a variety of styles, including Gouda, Edam and smoked Cheddar. You don’t need to make the substitutions all at once; one week, try a nondairy milk, then the next, try a nondairy cheese. Check the resources section at the end of this book for where to order these products if your local natural foods store doesn’t carry them.

Here are additional ideas for phasing dairy out of your meals:

Start with what you know. What’s on family menus that is already vegan or could be vegan with just a tweak or two? How about pasta with marinara sauce? Or tomato soup? (Prepare it with soymilk instead of cow’s milk.) Make Sloppy Joes using a canned sauce and meatless “ground beef.” Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are vegan and so is hummus. Starting with foods that are familiar can be a good way to help children make a smooth transition to plant-based meals.

Next, spend some time with cookbooks, the Internet, and your own recipe collection to identify seven to ten easy vegan dinners that you like and can prepare without much fuss (unless you like to fuss, of course). That’s as much variety as most omnivores enjoy, and families are usually very happy with a ten-day cycle of their favorite meals. Over time, you’ll probably grow tired of some and replace them with others,
but for starters, this short list of meals will get you through your first months as a vegan.

When you want something “meaty,” the selection of vegan choices these days is amazing. Check the frozen and refrigerated sections of natural foods stores as well as your regular grocery store. You’ll find vegan burgers, sausages, hotdogs, sandwich slices, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, pulled pork, chicken nuggets, ground beef, and much more. Different options appeal to different palates, so keep tasting until you find the items that you and your family enjoy. Look for products made by Gardein, Field Roast, Tofurky, Lightlife, and Yves, among others.

This is a chance to quickly eliminate some of the most harmful foods in omnivore diets. For example, cured and processed meats are especially unhealthy foods. Try a vegan substitute like Tofurky lunch meats, which taste very similar to their meat-derived counterparts.

And vegans can look to Asian cuisine for tofu and tempeh, two of the best meat substitutes. Read more about these staples of Asian diets in the Soyfoods Primer on pages 119–123. Both can be cubed, marinated in a simple sauce (try any barbecue, Thai peanut, or Teriyaki sauce), and then baked or sautéed. Serve them over rice or tossed with cooked vegetables.

In many (healthier) cultures, meat is used sparingly to flavor food, not as the focus of the meal. Vegans should plan meals in a similar fashion. Serve a platter of brown rice tossed with ¼ cup of almonds and topped with teriyaki-flavored sautéed veggies. Or make pasta the center of your plate, tossed with some garbanzo beans, vegan Parmesan cheese, and a big serving of steamed vegetables.

You don’t have to be a sophisticated or creative cook in order to follow a vegan diet. It’s nice to know a few basics—how to bake a potato, cook
brown rice, and steam vegetables—but that’s no more or less than anyone, eating any type of diet, needs to know.

Anyone can make these ten vegan dinners:

Some of the best eating patterns in the world—from both a culinary and health standpoint—are based on plant foods. When you start exploring meals from Italy, India, Mexico, China, Thailand, and other exotic locales, it will open up your world to the best of vegan cuisine. Look in cookbooks and online for recipes for pasta or Asian noodle dishes, curries, stir-fries, and pilafs (made with grains, nuts, and dried fruits). And look for ethnic restaurants when eating out since they are likely to have a good choice of vegan dishes.

Most Americans didn’t grow up eating beans, which is too bad. Legumes are super nutritious foods and among the world’s cheapest and most abundant sources of protein. That’s why beans have played a role in the diets of nearly every culture. If you can’t get organized enough to cook beans from scratch, it’s fine to use canned. Try bean dishes that are familiar, like baked beans (you can buy the canned vegan variety), bean burritos, and lentil and split pea soups.

One way to update your attitude about this group of foods is to become familiar with their use in other cultures. Chickpeas simmered in fresh tomato sauce, along with pasta and a glass of Chianti is a meal featuring the traditional flavors of Sicily. Other wonderful bean-based delicacies: garlic-infused Cuban black beans, spicy Indian lentil curry, and lemony chickpea hummus from the Middle East. Truly, beans are anything but boring!

It’s a simple matter to turn cooked beans into a tasty dish. Here are some super-fast ideas for ways to flavor beans. Most of these dishes can be served over rice or other grains—or spooned over a baked potato.